Georgia Football Knee Jerk Reactions: Florida Edition

So, how was your weekend? Mine was pretty solid; the weather turned here in the northeast, but the Falcons didn’t get a chance to let me down thanks to the bye week. I helped out around the house, cleaned a good amount and caught a really good movie, John Wick. Keanu is back y’all. Yeah, that pretty much sums up my weekend. Can’t seem to think of anything else that happened.

Oh yeah, Florida time traveled from my childhood to slap current day me in the face. And then someone drank all my whiskey.

As Jason and I laid out on the thankfully lost DudeYouPodcast last Friday, there was no reason on paper that Florida should have even been competitive with Georgia, let alone win the game. None. Whatsoever. As they say in every sports cliché ever, that’s why they play the games. Hubris is an unfamiliar dish as a Georgia fan regarding a Florida game, but it’s a flavor I’ll never forget. This was a failure on multiple levels, and while Jason is the resident curmudgeon of the site, I’d like to try on that hat just once.

The Good:

– THIS’LL BE SHORT. Nick Chubb continued to do his best Todd Gurley impersonation, even with multiple factors playing against him this past weekend. He ripped off big runs, he toughed out short gains, and all in all, he acquitted himself well versus a very good defense to tune of 7.4 yards per carry. The fumble was less than ideal, but if you lean on a freshman long enough, eventually they are going to remind you that they’re a freshman.

– When passes were completed (gotta love a compliment that starts with a qualifier), the skill players did good things in space. For the most part, they got positive yards after each catch, and were focused on getting up field. Also, seeing the 7 catches next to Malcolm Mitchell’s name was a pleasant surprise after so long.

The Bad:

– Toss a pot of coffee on, we’re gonna be here for a while. Let’s start with the offensive line because why not. Andrew and I have touted the senior leadership of this group as a reason for the success this year, and the projected depth as a reason for hope in the future. So, when the senior leader David Andrews went down with an injury early in the game, you’d think the rest of the leaders on the line would come together and make sure the back up coming in didn’t miss a beat. For sure not. When David Andrews at roughly 45% is a better option at center than the next guy, depth cannot be counted on as a plus.

– Bad o-line play equals pressure on a first year quarterback SHOULD equal a largely underwhelming passing attack. But, Mason tossed for over 300 yards, averaging more than 7.8 yards a drop back, so what went wrong in the passing game? In a word, drops. In two words, [EXPLATIVE DELETED] drops. Chris Conley, Michael Bennett, even Jeb Blaze…no matter how open they seemed, it felt like every time a momentum changing pass was in the air, it hit the turf. Some o the balls weren’t perfect, but some of them hit receivers in the hands. Dropping catchable balls is a great way to lose winnable football games.

– And make no mistake, this was a winnable football game. Until a seemingly stout defense decided to roll over and play like dogs. Florida attacked with a zone blocking concept that took advantage of UGA’s aggression on the edges. They converted the end man on line of scrimmage block from a stretch to a pin concept on every zone play, thus negating the Dawgs’ ability to contain since no one in the secondary got off any blocks all day. The fact that I noticed this in the second quarter and Pruitt kept trotting out the same personnel to spread formations is mind-boggling. I get that you don’t want to get caught off guard, but for christsakes, make Florida prove they CAN beat you with a pass before you respect it by alignment ALL DAY.

– This is where I would write something mean about the pass defense, but since Harris threw THREE COMPLETIONS, I’ll just save us the time.

The Ugly:

– Hey Verne and Gary, how about we just cut your mics when UGA is kicking? Sound good?

– They threw nine passes, and had two players rush for over 190 yards. I can’t unsee it.

Here’s where I tell UGA hopeful to keep their heads high, that every loss isn’t as bad as it feels in the moment, and that everything we still want is on the table. All these things are true, but I can’t say any of it with even a hint of conviction yet. It’s too fresh, it hurts too much and I watched the game a second time yesterday because I hate myself. The only upside is going to be watching the Florida fanbase cannibalize itself over whether to keep a coach who is going to miss bowl season AGAIN because he beat Georgia once.

Love this? Hate it? Think I’m an idiot? Don’t just curse at me under your breath, head to the Dude You Podcast iTunes page, and leave a 5-star review to make sure I know it, and have your voice heard on the air.

Looking for Georgia Bulldogs football highlights on your phone? Download the UGA Vault for free from the iTunes App Store. Just click here. It’s that easy.